State government employees covered under the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 13 contract could see pay raises totaling 20.25% over the next four years.
A tentative agreement reached with Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration provides the greatest percentage increases achieved through labor negotiations with this largest of the state employee unions in the past 20 years, if not longer.
The Shapiro Administration also confirmed it reached a tentative agreement with another of the government’s large unions, Service Employees International Union Local 668, said Dan Egan, a spokesman for the governor’s Office of Administration. He indicated the administration is continuing to negotiate in good faith with 13 other unions that had a contract expire on June 30.
The terms of contracts negotiated with AFSCME 13, which represents 27,000 employees under the governor’s jurisdiction and thousands more who work elsewhere in state government, and SEIU 668 historically have been nearly identical.
While Egan declined to provide details of the tentative pacts, a copy of the proposed AFSCME contract terms obtained by PennLive show employees would receive a 2.25% step increase in January of each of its four years. It also would give them across-the-board raises of 5% this month, 2% next July; 2.25% in July 2025; and 2% in July 2026.
When compounded, salaries would rise by 22.1% over the term of the contract.
According to the most recent workforce statistics from the state’s Office of Administration, the average AFSCME employee earns a salary of $49,680. By the end of the four-year contract, the proposed deal would raise that average to $60,658.
AFSCME members will be voting on the proposed agreement through next week, said Dave Henderson, executive director of AFSCME Council 13. He declined further comment at this time.
Steve Catanese, president of SEIU 668, confirmed his union, which represents close to 10,000 employees, reached a multi-year deal with the commonwealth and said members will be voting on it over the next few weeks.
“We went through a multi-month bargaining process with the state,” Catanese said. “It took a while to get to where we’re at. I don’t think anything was easy. We’re hopeful this is the type of economic package that puts our members in a position to thrive in the coming years.”
The proposed AFSCME agreement also calls for an increase in employees’ contribution to health care by a quarter of 1% this month and again in July 2026 while increasing the employer’s – or taxpayer’s – contribution by 28% over the contract’s life.
“Nobody on the union side wanted to see an increase in employee healthcare costs,” states a document AFSCME members received detailing terms of the proposed contract. “Negotiators held the line to ensure the impact on employees was minimal AND succeeded in securing an additional .25% to the July 2025 [general pay increase] to offset the increased contribution.”
The tentative agreement also provides for Juneteenth to be recognized as a holiday, two hours of paid leave each year to allow most members to vote, and gives new employees up to three days of sick leave in their first year of employment, among other changes, according to the document.
It also indicates that through bargaining sessions with management, AFSCME fended off proposals that among others, would have raised salaries by 14.5% over the four years and eliminated meal allowances.
A 2016 law requires the state’s Independent Fiscal Office to perform a cost analysis of proposed collective bargaining agreements before they can take effect. That occurs after the union ratifies them.
Matt Knittel, the office’s director, confirmed on Friday his office had not yet received any of the tentative agreements to begin work on arriving at the cost taxpayers will pay for changes in salaries, benefits, paid leave and working conditions over the contract’s life.
The proposed agreement with AFSCME picks up where the last four-year agreement that expired in June left off. That contract granted employees a cumulative increase of 16.75% over its life.
Nate Benefield, senior vice president of the conservative Commonwealth Foundation, said it’s unfortunate that the contract negotiations happen behind closed doors without taxpayers knowing the cost they will have to bear as a result.
“It’s one of the major costs of state government that drives up taxes and significant increases like this can impact all of Pennsylvanians but most Pennsylvanians have no input in this deal, which is largely between Governor Shapiro and his campaign donors quite frankly,” Benefield said.
Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @JanMurphy.
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